Second Chances
by highonstereo
Summary: "He said I'm a prude, and he's not wrong." I said, my voice shaking. "Help me change that, Malfoy."


**Chapter 1**

As I sat at my desk, surrounded by stacks of parchments and scribbling furiously, I heard someone stroll in through the door to my office.

I looked up, only to find myself facing a very scary looking redhead.

"Hermione!" wailed Ginny. "You can't possibly have forgotten again! Really, sometimes I think you do this on purpose!"

Oh, she had no idea.

Ginny and Pansy had planned a girls night out at a nightclub. The past few times that they had made such plans, I had come up with various excuses at the last minute and avoided going with them. I don't consider myself to be horribly anti-social, but nightclubs? I had visited nightclubs previously a handful of times, and they had all been extremely awkward.

Since then, I had come to the conclusion that nightclubs couldn't be enjoyed if you weren't under the influence of a considerable amount of alcohol. I wasn't much of a dancer, and without the influence of alcohol I found myself extremely conscious. Also, unlike Pansy and Ginny, being sober made me much more aware of the inevitable leering stares and faceless gropes.

"Gin, I have a crazy amount of work to do. And I really want to finish this by tomorrow, so…" I trailed off as I saw Parker, my boss, peek in through the door to my office.

"Hermione, what are you doing here this late? Go home, will you? You always work so hard, even when your deadlines are weeks away. And while I appreciate your dedication, you mustn't overwork yourself," he said in a fatherly manner.

There went my excuse. Ginny looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Sure, Mr. Parker. I'll make sure she doesn't," she said.

I waited till Parker had gone, and then opened my mouth to protest, but Ginny cut me off.

"Hermione, no. I'm genuinely worried about how you're always buried in work, and tonight, Pansy and I are going to make sure you thoroughly enjoy yourself. Anyway, this is a new, way classier club than the ones we've been to before."

I sighed with resignation. Ginny and Pansy were my best friends, and this was the least I could do for them.

Ginny and I travelled to her place by Floo, and while I took a quick shower, she fussed around looking for dresses and matching accessories. As soon as I got out, wrapped in a towel, she pushed me onto a chair as she began to work on my face and hair. She charmed my hair to lie straight and silky, and then waved it lightly at the bottom. She applied eyeliner carefully, brushed on some eye shadow, and applied a lovely red on my lips. The end result wasn't bad at all - I actually looked pretty.

After my makeup was done, she pushed a dress into my hands. I changed into it, put on a pair of heels and looked into a mirror. My first reaction was to blush.

The dress was a short black number and it's straps went down my neck in a sharp V that plunged dangerously below the gap between my breasts. My carefully styled hair, the contrast between the light makeup and red lips, and a gold cuff bracelet added a bit of an elegance to the otherwise risqué appearance of the dress. Ginny was truly a genius.

"You look utterly shaggable. I can only imagine Ron's reaction if he sees you," Ginny smirked.

I snorted. Ron's reaction would be favourable only if this dress was meant for him and him alone. But a part of me wished he could see me looking this… different.

Ginny herself was dressed in a shiny silver dress, and looked beautiful herself. I could tell that this new club was probably more sophisticated than the last few we had been to simply by looking at her attire.

"Come on, Pansy must be waiting there already," said Ginny, and we left her flat and Apparated to the club.

We gained entrance on basis of the invitations that Pansy had received, which was fortunate because the entry fee was absurdly exorbitant otherwise. Seeing the excitement on Ginny and Pansy's faces, I decided to do my best to enjoy myself.

And so I entered, shivering with excitement.

A/N: My first Dramione! Please leave behind your thoughts if you think it's worth continuing :)


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